The present invention relates to animal traps in general, and more particularly to devices for entrapping moles.
Subterranean mammals such as the mole spend most of their time underground traversing a network of narrow diameter runways. Although some of these passageways are more distant from the surface, many are closely positioned beneath ground level. Formation of these runways thus results in the earth being disturbed upwardly which forms unsightly mounds. These pests are seldom seen aboveground, and thus control of moles requires bringing countermeasures to their subterranean domain.
Although various poisons and repellants may be employed, these bring with them the requirement to secure the substances against children, pets, and non-targeted species. An alternative is to employ mechanical traps to capture or kill the moles underground. The conventional scissors trap has metal blades which are inserted into the ground adjacent a runway. A downwardly extending trigger is dislodged by the mole's attempt to repair the disturbed runway, resulting in a powerful spring closing the scissors-like blade to strike the animal. Yet the force required to successfully operate such a trap results in a device which must be handled with great care to avoid inadvertent triggering. An effective trigger and catch mechanism has been developed for rodent traps, such as the ones shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,508,031 and 4,711,049. Yet these mechanisms employ a trigger surface which is accessed from above, and do not have application in a subterranean application.
What is needed is an effective mechanical mole trap which can be set and released without requiring a user to handle the device.